Sunday the 13th…
Today we left Calida Partida in spite of the wind, as it is supposed to blow up more and we have a little window where we could hop up to the next anchorage, Isla Sanfrancisco. We were up early with intentions to go for a Grady ride through the channel between islands and explore the caves, but we decided to forgo that and headed out instead. Probably a good plan, as once we got out it was indeed quite choppy. and windy.
It was rolly polly and we ended up making everything really salty again! Weren’t a lot of other boats out either, we were passed by one big sport fisher that really sliced through the waves and looked rather spectacular, ( the wake was spectacular too)… but when we arrived at the bay there were several other boats anchored so we weren’t totally alone.
As soon as we were securely anchored Phyllis and I made brunch, and then it was kayak time for me. I went to the beach for a walk and a quick look for interesting shells ( didn’t find any) and then three of us snorkelled around the boat. It was fairly clear, lovely green, we could see down to the bottom ( fifteen feet) and check out the lay of the anchor, but there weren’t a lot of interesting fish. I did spot two puffer fish, and there was a small school of silver bullets racing around on the bottom, and seemingly interested in the sand and silt the chain was stirring up as it slid across the floor.
Now we are all exhausted! the wind is coming in around here but it is calm, and out of the wind it is very hot. As I type a charter boat is exploring our personal space looking for a spot to anchor. Lawrence must have looked askance as they are now high tailing it out of here. Nope, they just went to the other side of us and have dropped the hook. Playtime! Let’s play count the contents… how many people can you fit on a 35 foot charter cat?
I sit outside and watch them jump in the water for some snorkelling and decide that what the heck, my bathing suit is dry so I might as well go in again too. This time, I spotted an eel under our keel! It seemed to be about one and half feet long, slowly undulating along the bottom … tried to get some good go pro shots but the water is a bit murky now and after the fact I realize the go pro lens is murky too!
But I followed him around for a while, and then I went closer to shore to see if the tide was bringing anything exciting in. If I am not mistaken, I probably got a few more jelly bites… tiny pricks of pain that end up being a blister when you get out of the water.
The only other thing of interest was a nest of puffer fish, several of them all nestled into a depression on the bottom. I tried to dive down to get a good picture of them but when I looked at the footage later they just looked like little puff balls far away. Ah well!
And that has been our day – we are going to cook the chicken pasta Karen gave us before we left, so Phyllis and I are off the hook for cooking! Tom is taking advantage of the cooling day ( sun going down soon ) to do some more teak sanding. Phyllis is reading my Mexican Cruising cook book and getting hungry… and Lawrence is getting the Grady cleaned up and ready to take us to the beach tomorrow. Crashing along behind the big boat certainly gets her covered in salt, but so far she seems to be behaving well with her new towing bridge… although she is far away from us! Tomorrow we will hang around here, waiting for the wind to die down, maybe we can sleep in as there is no where to go and nothing much to do. Sounds like a holiday to me!
Next day:
after much reading and checking and Magyvering, the guys have decided the Alternator is Dead.
I was out kayaking and walking ( after a wonderful breakfast of papaya and Phyllis’s banana muffins) while they trouble shooted, (shot?) and when I got back to the boat and was waiting at the swim grid they gave me the sad news. Ah well! Time for some phone calls!
As I was waiting the couple from the beautiful sailboat behind us kayaked over to say hi! What a life! they keep their boat down here and spend the winter on it cruising around, and otherwise live in the States, but the boat is their main home.. and they are young! well, way younger than us. Lovely people and a great chat – plans are to take the boat to Costa Baja again, ( they came down two years ago on the Baja haha).. They say they spent one summer on the boat down here, and it was TOO MUCH! I can believe it. Not a lot of fun when it’s 110 plus and the water is body temperature. They confirmed our weather report ( courtesy of the ham net) so we may have to wait a day before we head south to La Paz. Yes, that is the plan – we need to fix the Alternator, and if we can find someone to do it for us, we may as well get it done.
Sigh – luckily our guests are long time boaters and understand the issues that come along with boating. SO that is all the news from here. The sun is out, the water is warm, there may be jellies stinging us in the water but it’s not so bad I won’t go back in again… it will be a long day heading back in but I think it is what we have to do.
back to civilization – for a little while, at least!